Indians’ pivot to Zim economy President Mnangagwa

Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
Zimbabwe’s economy is on a recovery path, with the target of becoming a middle income economy by 2030 set to be achieved, President Mnangagwa has said.

The President said this in a speech read on his behalf by Zanu-PF Secretary for Finance Cde Patrick Chinamasa at the inaugural India Diaspora Convention yesterday.

“The country is on a path to economic recovery,” he said. “We have set ourselves a shared, ambitious yet achievable vision of becoming a middle income economy by 2030.

“We are confident that we will achieve this vision. However, our developmental trajectory will be smoother and softer with support from friends like India and its corporate citizens and the Indian Diaspora.”

President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe and India had strong historical and cultural relations, with the Indian community contributing to the country’s development.

“Indeed, that respect is grounded in the immense contribution and cooperation that this community has made over the years to this country in business, in politics, in diplomacy, in health, in academia and in many other walks of life,” he said.

The President said India was a potential market for Zimbabwe’s goods and a source of investment.

“India is both a potential market for Zimbabwean goods, as well as a source of investment and technology,” he said. “There is a huge opportunity for Indian businesses which, taken at its tide, will see this growing economy in the world establishing a foothold in Zimbabwe in manufacturing and provision of services for the entire African region.”

Zanu-PF finance secretary Cde Patrick Chinamasa discusses with Justice Ahmed Ebrahim while admiring some photographs during the celebration of the First Indian Diaspora Convention ,coinciding with the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in Harare yesterday. — Picture by Innocent Makawa

President Mnangagwa thanked Indian companies that have invested in Zimbabwe, adding that vast opportunities existed in the health sector.

“On the health sector, it is not a secret that Indian medical and pharmaceutical companies have made a huge impact on the African market by providing access to life-saving drugs at affordable prices,” he said.

“In Zimbabwe, there are vast opportunities for Indian pharmaceutical companies to invest and partner local companies to supply the whole of Southern Africa, if not the continent, with Zimbabwe as the hub for the medicines and other pharmaceutical products.”

President Mnangagwa thanked the Indian government for providing a grant for the construction of the India-Africa Incubation Centre that he recently commissioned.

The centre provides training in entrepreneurship in various areas that include plastic bottle manufacturing, cellphone assembly, paper and diaper manufacturing.

President Mnangagwa said Government was working on improving the investment climate as espoused in the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP).

“We are also intensifying efforts to address the ease of doing business in Zimbabwe by addressing regulatory bottlenecks and streamlining bureaucratic processes that have been impeding business,” he said.

“In this regard, we have established the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Authority, which is a one-stop centre for investment facilitation.

“Government has also established Special Economic Zones as a strategy to accelerate Foreign Direct Investment in targeted sectors.”

President Mnangagwa urged the Indian Diaspora to continue playing a positive role in the country’s economy.

Indian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Rungsung Masakui said the two countries shared a long history dating back to pre-colonial times.

“India and Zimbabwe are connected by a shared history, language, culture and people to people relations,” he said. “Before colonialists came to our respective countries we were already engaged in trade in items that include gold, metals and fabrics.

“The Indian Diaspora has contributed a lot to the development of this country.”

Mr Masakui said the convention was aimed at raising awareness of various opportunities available in the country and thanked the Government for making the Indian community feel at home.

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